Eailroad spike



GEORGE GRAY 1 MTED TATES PATENT Erica,

RHODERIOK, OF BAYONNE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO ALLAN BENNY,OF SAME PLACE.

RAILROAD-SPIKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 534,230, dated February12, 1895. Application filed February Z4, 1894:. Serial No. 501,417. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it. may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE GRAY RHOD- ERICK, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing in the city of Bayonne, in the county of Hudson andState of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsinv Railroad-Spikes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable 1oothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

This invention relates to that class of spikes used in fastening downand holding in place the rails of a rail road track, or the holding downof any object by means of a projecting head on the spike, lapping overand resting upon a flange, as shown in the drawings accompanying thisspecification.

Heretofore rail road companies have found zo it impossible to get aspike, which, when driven straight down into the tie would retain itsexact position for any length of time,

and, which could also be driven tightly into the tie and afterwardwithdrawn, without 2 5 having the head, neck, or that portion of theshank of the spike just below the surface of the tie either bent, splitor broken, or fractured in some way, so that the pressure of the railagainst the spike afterward causes the same to become broken.

The spike in common use by the rail road companies generally becomesloosened in the tie by direct pressure of the rail against it, vor byreason of the vibration and jolting of 3 5 the rail caused by thepassage of trains overit, causing the spike to work upward, or to turnaround; the rail, then spreading, either by pushing t-he spikes outwardor loosening them; orjumping over the head of the spikewhen the vsameturns around, so that the projecting head no longer rests upon theflange, but is turned away from it. In a great many cases the spik e isfractured or weakened, either in its head or in the neck, or in thatpart of the shankjust 4 5 below the surface of the tie, by the forceused in driving it, and this fractured or weakened portion afterwardgives away by pressure of the rail against it. One of the usual causesof the working loose of the spike in the tie is, 5o that in driving thespike downward, `and tightly up against the iiange of the rail, a

hole is left at the rear of the spike, allowing water to collect aroundthe head of the spike and into this hole, causing the wood to becomesoftand rotten, and thus allowing the spike to be forced out of place.It is also very diicult to draw the ordinary spike by means of aclaw-bar from the tie, without either breaking thel head or bending thespike. Great difficulty has also been experienced with that class ofspikes having an extension at the top and in the rear of the spike,designed to act as a brace, because of the difficulty of driving thesame; and of its weakness through the head and neck, on a line drawnparallel with the rear line of the shank of the spike, or of a weaknessthrough the spike itself on a line drawn through the same, at thesurface line of the tie, and fora short distance below the same. 7,0

The object of my invention is to make it impossible, or, at leastmuchmore diicult for the spike after being driven into place to work upwardor backward; or to turn around,or to break off, or to become bent, or tochange in any way from the position into which it had been driven; andalso to prevent the breaking or injuring of the head, or other portionof said spike in driving it; and also to so close up and fill the entirehole made in driv- 8o ing the spike, so that it willbe impossible forwater to collect and enter the wood ot' the tie around the spike. This Iaccomplish by making the spike the usual length and thickness of thecommon rail road spike, and adding at the top and upon the rear of theshank of the spike, a piece of iron, which I hereby designate as thehold fast to run from a point just under the head ot' the spike,downward and outward from the shank of the spike at an angle ofaboutthirty degrees, and to be aboutone fourth thelength of the shank;therear line of said hold fast to be parallel with the rear line of theshank, and to come to a point, as shown in the accompanying drawings;the head of the spike to be continued across the top of the hold fast toa point j ust beyond a perpendicularline drawn upward along the rearline of the hold fast; and said head to be thick enough at the rear sothat when the spike is driven into place the head will rest securely inthe tie, and close up completely any hole or abrasion made by the spikewhen driven.

This spike which I have described, and which is shown in the drawings,can be driven without any fear of its splitting or bending; or of thebreaking or injuring of the head, or any portion of it, because of itsgreat strength, and of the great strength of the shank and hold fast,for a distance of an inch below the head, the spike there being of aboutdouble the thickness of the ordinary spike.

This spike can be very easily driven with the hold fast, because of thesharp angle be tween the shank and the hold fast, and the sharp point ofthe hold fast; and it is bound to be driven perfectly straight, becauseof this sharp angle, and of the extra strength of the spike at thejunction of the shank and the hold fast.

lVhen driven into the tie it will be impossible to move this spike fromits position in any way, because the force used in driving the spikewould press the wood of the tie so tightly into the angle between thehold fast and the shank that no vibration of the rails can shakeitloose, and the hold fast itself will act as a brace against the shankof the spike, so that it can not be moved backward or changed in any wayfrom its position. It will also be impossible when this spike is drivenhome, for any water to get into the tie through the hole made bythespike, because such hole will be completely filled and covered up by thehead of the spike. In withdrawing this spike from the tie by theclaw-barthe head can not be broken off, nor the spike bent or injured inany way because of the strength at the upper portion above recited.

In the accompanying drawings wherein a spike embodying myinvention isillustrated, Figure 1 is a perspective View of a spike embodying myimprovements, and Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof showing it inengagement with the flange of a rail-road rail.

In the accompanying diagram A. is the head. B. is the rear of theholdfast. C. is

the shank. D. is the point of the spike. E. is the rail. F. is the apex`of the angle between the shank and the hold fast. G. is the point ofthe holdfast. H. is the back of the head. I is the rear face of thehold-fast which is parallel with the rear face of the body or shank ofthe spike, and J is the recess which is between the overhanging portionI-I of the head of the spike, and the holdfast.

Having described my invention as above,I claim the following to be new,and desire Letters Patent to be issued thereon, viz:

l. Aspike consisting of the head and shank, and a holdfast or bracesecured to the rear side of the shank, entirely below the head andextending downward alongthe rear face of the shank, whereby the shank isreinforced or strengthened for a distance below the surface line of thetie when the spike is driven thereinto, the rear face of the holdfastbeing parallel with the line of the shank, and there being an anglebetween the rear face of the shank, and the lower inner face of theholdfast, whereby the lower end of the latter is pointed substantiallyas set forth.

2. A spike consisting of a shank C, having a recess .I and a hold-fastor brace secured to the upper rear face or side of the shank entirelybelow the head, and extending downward and backward therefrom at anangle approximating thirty degrees, the hold-fast being sharpened at itslower end, and having its rear face in line with the shank, and a head.A which extends across the top of the shank, and of the hold-fast, andbeyond or in rear of the rear face of the hold-fast, substantially asset forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, in the presence of twowitnesses, this 19th day of February, 1894.

GEORGE GRAY RHODERIOK.

In presence of- RoB'r. BENNY, JOHN O. HUNTER, ALLAN BENNY.

